Discovery 300Tdi given some TLC

Hi everyone im new to the forum but have used it for advise in the past just never registered, i like reading the project threads etc so thought i would post some of my photos up.

I used to have a freelander TD4 which i went greenlaning in the peak district with my mate who had a Disco 300tdi the freelander was ok but lacked the ground clearance and low range.

I decided to trade it in for an old disco 300 tdi manual to be specific and only found two or three on forecourts, i went and swapped the freelander for the disco and got it taxed mot'd and money back with which i bought a welder with because the tin worm had got a hold of it.

As you can see a fair bit of welding to do and i had never done it before, the front right arch was rusted out and the boot floor needed replacing also both rear arches needed welding work and the rear seat mount

So i got stuck in with the welder and grinder it took three weeks to repair in my spare time.







new seat belt mount seam sealed ready for underseal etc





Also rear body mount was shot i replaced it but havnt got any pictures after

The boot floor was replaced with a new panel and i painted some of the chassis before fitting.

some of the edge support for the boot had rotted away so i cut it out and replaced it

















Im not saying im the best welder or have used the best techniques but two years on and its still solid and it passed its mot no problems.

More to follow..

so for nearly two years i didnt do anything (apart from service it) to the disco, i just drove it used it to tow our caravan and also went on several greenlaning days, one really good day in the snow in december 2008.

All that went wrong was the passenger front window regulator packed up and the front bumper finally gave up due to it being rusted out in the corners and in the snow the left plastic end cap twisted so i bent it back planning to get a replacment bumper.

A couple of weeks ago it broke down i had cleaned out the sediment filter and shortly after it stalled from fuel starvation the lift pump was at fault so i had to replaced it, whilst i was at it i fitted new rear shocks after an advisory from the mot and also replaced the window regulator.

I then decided to sort out the front bumper after looking on ebay for second hand bumpers i have repared it instead. Time will tell how long it lasts











I took the valence off and trimmed the end caps and also fitted a steering guard

When i first repaired it i gave it the waxoyl treatment it looked great but two years on and it was in need of some attention this time i have put more effort in i cleaned the chassis down and wire brushed/treated any rusty sections with kurust there was nothing bad found thankfully i then painted on waxoyl as i could not get the pump up sprayer working in the cold temperatures



Once its dry i and going to paint over the chassis with hammerite waxoyl underseal and any parts of the body that get blasted from the wheels.

Also fitting a cb and didnt fancy clamping through the gutter seal for a ground so i made my own spare wheel mount.











and thats it for now i think.

looking good. need to start on mine soon but have never welded in my life.

I like the aerial mount, if I ever get a CB radio then I will have to do one like that.

Looks like you did a good job with the welding, in all the usual Disco rust places

Richard Martin said:

I like the aerial mount

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Ditto, there's someone on ebay selling mounts like that for over £24(inc. postage), might be an option for you to make a few quid lastwords....

Thats what its all about......having a go yourself. You done a good job. Need to pull my finger out and start mine really. Just waiting for the longer evenings and better weather.

Thanks for the positive replies, i have seen the mounts on ebay i made mine out of some scrap steel i had lying around. the hardest bit was bending the upright you could heat it up but i dont have anything to get it warm enough so i brace it against the curb stone on my drive and after several well placed hits with a sledge hammer it work out ok .

Dont seem to pick up much on the cb though i have a swr meter and tuned the arial to get below 2, i guess people dont use it a lot, will have to get my friend to test it with his cb.

Well done , youve saved the old girl for a few more years ! My MOT is due on my 94 Disco so will be needing to get a welder . What sort of welder did you use and how much to buy ?

rollin danny said:

Well done , youve saved the old girl for a few more years ! My MOT is due on my 94 Disco so will be needing to get a welder . What sort of welder did you use and how much to buy ?

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easiest to use is a mig set, might be personal opinion but I would stay away from gasless welders too.

keep your eye on ebay there can be some bargains on their from time to time.

bobbler said:

easiest to use is a mig set, might be personal opinion but I would stay away from gasless welders too.

keep your eye on ebay there can be some bargains on their from time to time.

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Cheers, Ive been waiting fo the migs to come back in Aldi. They had them in a couple of years ago but havn't seen em since. Heard they were good for the price , think they were about £130.

I used a Clarke Mig pro 90 from machine mart i bought it in new condition off ebay they are £215.98 from machine mart im sure i paid about £100 and it is an excellent little welder never had any problems with wire feed, i used about 3 small bottles of CO2 gas to do all the welding in the pictures and it has its second reel of wire in it at the moment.

Brother in law has a clarke gasless mig welder from machine mart and it is definatly no where near as good as the one i have, go for a gas mig and you wont regret it.

Ive got the winter catalogue from machine mart . Price is £199.73 inc vat for Clarke pro 90 , but maybe a few quid more with vat rise.

the price i supplied was from the latest catalogue which dropped through my door last week.

Just seen one on ebay, starting bid £99. Its in Liverpool so if I won the bidding would have to drive about 100 miles round trip to get it. Looks in good nick though.

Well yesturday me and the wife went on the LRO aventure club's navigational challenge day.

It was a great day out the navigation challenged my wife for sure as we took a wrong turn or two but we got there in the end.

The day started with a drive round some of rockingham castles land rover experience track which was great fun.

Then onto the lanes around the welland valley and finishing at Yarwell quarry.

The lanes were very tame but then it was classed as a begginers day. Yarwell quarry was excellent got the landrover very dirty had a failed hill climb on the big centre hill at the quarry which was a bit scary.

The Disco performed flawlesly all day.





Dan

Only saw this thread now... good work with the welding!!
pretty much rusted exactly where my old disco rusted.... altough I used a single piece of metal and bent it to shape when doing the inner wheel arches